Veteran gay rights activist Chi Chia-wei and his partner filed the complaint with the Taipei court last year after a local household registration agency refused to register their marriage.

The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled that the agency did not violate the law that stipulates that ‘a marriage contract should be between a man and a woman,’ according to the Taipei Times.

Gay and lesbian activists have been lobbying the government for years to make same-sex unions legal while Chi himself has launched multiple legal bids to seek recognition of his marriage since 1986, but all have been rejected.